Interviews
Australian Tour 2001 -
The Grill with Nana Mouskouri
- Who Weekly, March 19, 2001
Nana Mouskouri, the Greek goddess of song, is the world's highest-selling female recording artist and her 450 albums span four decades. On her return to Australia for a concert tour, the famously bespectacled Mouskouri, 66, warbled with Julietta Jameson.
Julietta: You're a hard worker, Nana. It seems you're always recording or on tour.
Nana: I am. It's what keeps me alive. I find a lot of joy in the work. And a lot of love. You get afraid of losing that. It's a nice security, working.
Julietta: How did you get to be such a hard worker?
Nana: When I was very young I was the ugly duckling. I had a lot of complexes. My sister was wonderful and I was nothing. And so this nothing bothered me a lot. But every time I would open my mouth to sing everybody was paying attention to me. It became a habit. If I was sad or afraid, I would sit in a corner and start to sing. If I was happy I would jump into the middle of the room and sing. It was how I expressed my emotions. And when I was singing, everybody liked me, so I grew up thinking that singing was my security.
 Julietta: An ugly duckling? But ... Ms Mouskouri, you're beautiful!
Nana: Thank you very much. Sometimes now, I look back at photographs of myself and say, 'Well, I was not too bad,' but at the time I really felt that.
Julietta: And yet, you never changed your image.
Nana: I thought from the beginning that how you looked was not important. It was what you did and how you did it. So whatever you do, go for it. Decide to do it and then do it the best way you can. Give it everything. I proved for a fact that that was more than enough.
Julietta: Why have you always kept the glasses?
Nana: The glasses were part of me. When I was unknown, nobody would say, 'Why do you wear these glasses?' The minute I had my first success everybody said, 'You have to get rid of the glasses! Get contact lenses, make your hair blonde.' it's nice to look good, but the most important thing is to be you. And that was not me.
Julietta: "White Rose of Athens," your first hit of many, was back in 1961. Does it seem like just a short time ago?
Nana: It does! But it is 40 years since my first gold record and originally it was in German. I am very grateful to find myself 40 years later with people still wanting to hear me sing. Life has been very kind to me.
Julietta: And German is just one of the 11 languages you sing in.
Nana: Who speaks Greek? I mean, I know there are a lot in Australia - it's like Greece! But I thought it was respectful to each country to sing in their language. I used to travel with a lot of books and that is how I learned.
Julietta: Tina Arena now sings in French.
Nana: Oh yes! she has a lovely voice and she is very popular in Europe. She became a hero for singing in French. She's a nice girl and she is singing very well.
Julietta: You've had a long career, but the world is now more geared towards one-hit wonders - don't you agree?
Nana: Yes, it is. But some people, when they are talented, they stay. And I think Tina is talented and she will stay.
Julietta: So it's 15 years since you've been to Australia ...
Nana: This time my daughter is singing with me. It's exciting, not only for me to come, but also to present my daughter.
Julietta: Are you a grandmother?
Nana: No, not yet. They are very lazy, my children! But I was working very hard at the singing and I still had my children and that's what I tell them. When you want something very dearly, you make the time. |